Questions & Answers about Vidim njegovu kuću.
Why is it vidim and not a separate word for I?
Because Serbian often drops subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form.
- vidim already means I see
- the ending -im tells you it is 1st person singular: I
So ja vidim njegovu kuću is possible, but ja is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis, contrast, or clarity.
What form of the verb is vidim?
Vidim is the present tense, 1st person singular form of videti.
A quick mini-pattern:
- ja vidim = I see
- ti vidiš = you see
- on/ona/ono vidi = he/she/it sees
- mi vidimo = we see
- vi vidite = you see
- oni/one/ona vide = they see
So in this sentence, vidim is the verb and means I see.
Why is it kuću and not kuća?
Because kuću is in the accusative case.
The basic dictionary form is:
- kuća = house
But after a verb like videti when the noun is the direct object, Serbian usually uses the accusative:
- Vidim kuću. = I see a/the house.
For this noun:
- nominative: kuća
- accusative: kuću
So kuću is used because it is the thing being seen.
Why is it njegovu and not njegova or njegov?
Because njegovu has to agree with kuću.
In Serbian, words like my, your, his, her behave like adjectives and must match the noun in:
- gender
- number
- case
Here, kuću is:
- feminine
- singular
- accusative
So his must also be feminine singular accusative:
- njegovu
That is why you get:
- njegovu kuću
not:
- njegov kuću
- njegova kuću
Does njegovu kuću mean his house or her house?
It means his house.
- njegov = his
- njen / njezin = her
So:
- Vidim njegovu kuću. = I see his house.
- Vidim njenu kuću. = I see her house.
This is different from English, where possession words do not change much. In Serbian, both the choice of word and its ending matter.
What exactly is njegovu grammatically?
Njegovu is a possessive adjective/pronominal adjective meaning his, in a form that matches kuću.
You can think of its base form as:
- njegov = his
Then it changes depending on the noun:
- njegova kuća = his house
(nominative) - njegovu kuću = his house
(accusative, as direct object)
So the meaning stays his, but the ending changes because the grammar changes.
Why are both njegovu and kuću ending in -u?
Because both words are showing the same grammatical role: feminine singular accusative.
- kuća → kuću
- njegova → njegovu
This is a very common pattern in Serbian: the adjective/possessive word and the noun usually match.
Compare:
- lepa kuća = a beautiful house
- vidim lepu kuću = I see a beautiful house
The same thing is happening with:
- njegova kuća
- vidim njegovu kuću
Is there a word for the or a in this sentence?
No. Serbian does not have articles like English a/an and the.
So kuću can mean:
- a house
- the house
and the exact meaning depends on context.
Likewise:
- Vidim njegovu kuću will normally be understood as I see his house, because possession already makes it specific.
Can the word order change?
Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English because case endings show who is doing what.
The most neutral order here is:
- Vidim njegovu kuću.
But other orders can be possible for emphasis, for example:
- Njegovu kuću vidim.
- Kuću njegovu vidim.
(more marked, less neutral)
These alternatives do not usually change the basic meaning, but they can change the focus or style. For learners, the best default is the neutral order:
- Vidim njegovu kuću.
How do you pronounce kuću?
Roughly:
- kuću ≈ KOO-chu
But the sound ć is important: it is softer than English ch.
So:
- č is harder
- ć is softer and more palatal
Also:
- ku sounds like koo
- ću is not like English choo, but it is the nearest rough approximation
A careful learner pronunciation would be something like: KOO-ću, with a soft ć.
What is the difference between ć and č in Serbian?
They are different letters and different sounds.
- č = a harder ch sound
- ć = a softer sound, made with the tongue closer to the hard palate
In this sentence, the word is:
- kuću with ć, not č
This distinction matters because Serbian spelling is very regular, and changing the letter changes the pronunciation and can change the word.
Would this sentence look different in Cyrillic?
Yes. Serbian can be written in both Latin and Cyrillic scripts.
The Cyrillic version is:
- Видим његову кућу.
Letter by letter:
- Vidim → Видим
- njegovu → његову
- kuću → кућу
Both scripts are standard in Serbian.
How would I say the basic dictionary forms of the words in this sentence?
The dictionary forms would be:
- videti = to see
- njegov = his
- kuća = house
In the sentence, two of them change form:
- videti → vidim
- njegov → njegovu
- kuća → kuću
This is very typical in Serbian: the dictionary form is often not the same as the form you see in a full sentence.
Could I also say Ja vidim njegovu kuću?
Yes, absolutely.
- Vidim njegovu kuću.
- Ja vidim njegovu kuću.
Both are correct.
The version with ja sounds more explicit and may add emphasis, for example:
- Ja vidim njegovu kuću, ali ti ne.
= I see his house, but you do not.
Without that special emphasis, Serbian usually prefers the shorter version:
- Vidim njegovu kuću.
Is njegovu kuću one unit in the sentence?
Yes. It forms a noun phrase:
- njegovu = his
- kuću = house
Together they function as the direct object of the verb vidim.
So the sentence breaks down like this:
- Vidim = verb
- njegovu kuću = object
That is a useful way to analyze many Serbian sentences.
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